1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of pads and padding and more particularly, to the field of pads and padding primarily intended for use with sports gear and accessories to provide protection for athletes.
2. Discussion of the Background
Most pads and padding are presently not integrated (or at least not easily integrated) into sports gear and accessories. For example, tapes for athletic use currently consist primarily of single layer, bandage-type tapes that are wound around or applied over various parts of the athlete's body. In a common application, the tape may be wound around an ankle or wrist to provide additional support and to help restrict or limit the movement or flexure of the joint to avoid injury or further injury to it. Smaller pieces of such bandage-type tape may also be used to hold protective pads in place over various parts of the athlete's body. Depending upon the particular application and desires of the athlete, such tapes may be elastic to move and stretch with the athlete's movements or may be inelastic to provide restricting support and protection. Regardless, such prior tapes are normally not designed to additionally act or serve as protective pads and padding in and of themselves. Similarly, other sports gear and accessories such as jerseys, pants, kneepads, elbow pads, and the like are presently not easily adaptable to act or serve as protective pads and padding in and of themselves.
With this in mind, the present invention was developed to offer many of the advantages and simplicity of current sports gear and accessories but with the additional advantage of incorporating protective pads and padding. Further, the pads and padding of the present invention do so in an overall design that is very porous and breathable and will help to keep the athlete dry and cool in use.